As promised, we've completed our testing and a new update is now available for TiVoHD. We believe this will alleviate the majority of issues people have reported with CableCards, specifically some issues with SA CableCards.

The software is mapped to all TiVoHD systems, you should see it on your box in the next couple of days (unless you are pressing 'connect to TiVo service now' repeatedly).

As promised, we've completed our testing and a new update is now available for TiVoHD. We believe this will alleviate the majority of issues people have reported with CableCards, specifically some issues with SA CableCards.

Thanks for the update Pony .. I will hit my "update now" over and over again in a moment .. Question for you .. (and I do hope you continue to observe this thread) .. can you list what issues those were that you believe have been alleviated?

Obviously there is the pixelation stuff .. but have you touched on the Dolby audio-drop out stuff (Ya know, where if you go to PCM you're fine... but who likes losing their Dolby) .. or is that waiting for the 8.3 merge?

Updated my tivo...............
All seems fabulous so far
1) No Audio Dropouts
2) No pixellation/macroblocking.
I tested it for about 45 minutes and then unfortunately had to get back to work.
But definitely see a huge improvement, in the time i tested the update had none of the aforementioned problems.
So there you go all you naysayers and skeptics (myself included) tivo proves you wrong again!!

I happen to be home on vacation this week, and just forced a call......

Downloaded the 8.1.7c software and......

It SEEMS to have fixed my issues! (or at least improved it!) I haven't had chance to watch a full hour show yet, but so far NO macroblocking on my HD channels.... previously I had some macroblocking every couple of minutes...

I'll post again after I can spend more time with it.

For the record- 2 Single Stream SA cards, Charter Cable, Western Massachusetts

My unit updated to the new software version, but upon restart, both cable cards did not initialize properly. I removed both cards, reinstalled card 1 allowed it to initialize, then reinstalled card 2 and allowed it initialize.

After that, it would not tune to any stations.

I ran guided setup and now all is well.

It seems that when the unit restarts, I have some kind of problem with the cable cards initializing. This does not happen all the time, but i would say 75% of the time. Albeit, the unit does not restart that often, but this is a bit of a hassle.

Looking good here, but I was good before. 2x Moto cards on Mediacom in the Quad Cities (IA/IL border). Just want better menu response.

As far as HDMI, I use it, but only for video. Direct digital connection between the TiVo HD and the VSX-1014 receiver with zero DD dropouts. If you are still getting drops then you may want to consider hooking up directly to the receiver until the DD drops are fixed, if the possibility exists.

Prior to the update: Frequent Pixelation, approximately 1x per minute.; some audio dropouts but no big deal; some stopping/starting/dropouts when I first change to a channel.

After the update: Been watching for 2hrs and haven't seen a single bit of pixelation. The issues when I first change to a channel are still there, but I didn't expect this to be fixed and it's not that big of a deal.

The only weirdness: One time, changing to an HD channel, the broadcast froze for about 3 seconds, and then flipped to the cablecard initialization screen (black with grey borders, says "press clear to exit"). I pressed "clear" and it went back to the channel and it was as if nothing happened. Don't know what that was all about, hope it doesn't happen too often, and hopefully it's not a sign of trouble on the horizon.

Time Warner Cable Manhattan (the worst cable company on the planet - if Tivo works with them, it will work with anything)

Before the update, my other half complaining constantly about the picure and audio problems and asking daily when it was going to be fixed. I got good at saying "really soon, they will figure it out". Since the update, neither of us have seen a single macroblocking issue in either the living room or bedroom. I have to say, amazing work and better than I had hoped by far. And I don't know if this was intentionally addressed, but the Dolby Digital audio drops have disappeared too. We could not be happier. GREAT job Tivo. Next time, please have a wider beta before you release new stuff to the public, I work in technology, so I understand S$% happens, but this should not have been that hard to spot with a better testing program ahead of time - it was not some super obscure combination to reproduce the issue.